Adidas Takumi Sen 8 vs. Nike Vaporfly Next% 2 | Head to Head 

I would love to try the Takumi Sen 8, but we don’t have it in Canada yet! So I guess I’m sticking to my Vaporfly.

Perfect comparison! Helps me a lot!! I chose TS9. (Watch at 1.5x... bro is feeling a bit laid-back on this one :))

Spending that much money for either shoe, and using them almost exclusively for the 10K, which one do you think will keep its "pop" and be more durable longer?

I think these two, the Metaspeed Sky, and the Endorphin Pro+ are my favorites. I think it is an interesting question as to if the slightly lower stack and slightly more flexible super shoes could be faster at the 5k. They may allow you to be a bit more explosive in the calves, but I think there is also a balance. Some amount of added flexibility while maintaining some rigidity is probably preferable. The Streakfly may have gone too far in the soft and flexible direction to be a competition to these two. It feels closer to the Rebel v2, which is still quite fast and comfortable as a trainer, but a bit too soft/flexible/undirected to feel like a true super shoe competitor at shorter distances. The Takumi Sen 8 strikes that balance really well though in my opinion and could actually be a real competitor at shorter distances. The Metaspeed Edge and Deviate Elite kinda do this as well. The Takumi Sen 8, Fuelcell Pacer's plate, and Dragonfly's pebax plate inclusion make me think Nike did intend the Streakfly more as a value versatile fun fast trainer than a Takumi Sen 8. That would make sense since the Vaporfly is already so capable and light across shorter race distances.

As a fan of the Adios 6 and the torsion bar system, the rest of the Adizero line and their medial side cutout gives me too much cause for concern. As someone who is sensitive to pronation with shoes that tend to crash in too much on the medial side. Haven't tried the Vaporfly, but I do own the Alphafly (with limited KMs on them), and the Alphafly feels divine...so far. Hoping that impression continues as I mix it in on my last few long runs before my May 8th marathon. Thanks for the content!

I have a question: there's a lot of talk about energy return with fast shoes and nowadays we have all sorts of technologies, but how do these supershoes compare to... well, nothing? What if the runner is literally racing barefoot or with a pair of minimalistic shoes? Is the energy return 100% of what the athlete puts on the ground if there's no foam? Granted, there's no cushioning to "soften the blow" but purely in terms of how much elastic energy you can re-use while running.

Which shoe are you picking in this head to head?

Was this filmed on a trampoline?

Just raced in the Vaporfly 1 and I felt super light and fast... I must say that I had been training in the alphafly 2 and also Vaporfly 2. I tried the Takumis in the store, and they felt SUPER bulky, maybe they would do the work for recovery, but i dont think they would meet the requirements for a race.

Hi. I want to run 1000 mts under 3:00. My weigh is 87 kgs. Takumi is nice for that or what you prefer? Thanks

I thought you were going to say sub 20 5k. Sub 20 4 miles is serious running. I haven't broke 22 mins so know how much work that is. We'll done.

How’s the sizing on the Takumi? Thanks

It’s not fair to compare the two, vaporfly is too next level hands down winner, talcuming has weird fit and no pop

Adios 6 is a better track shoe than the Takumi. Takumi stack height is much higher (has the same heel stack as an Ultra Boost).

How dare! Trail + vaporfly? You heathen!!

The day the shoe companies veered away from "racing flats" is the day runners started losing focus. "Nering out" on Shoe TECH. Making a shoe with 56mm stack height at the heel. A shoe (Adidas Prime X) that's actually illegal in competition. What companies SHOULD be doing is going back the days of the "Racing flat" whee "road feel" is vital and training/conditioning/coaching MORE important...than the dhoe. Are the guys at Struttgart, Germany (Porsche) thining along the same lines as running shoe engineers? "Ya YAA ...MORE cushion in the tire....SOFTA shocks ...so at end of race driver doesn't feel beat up!!"....the shoe is akin to the tires. In a sports car we WANT raod feel/trip. Likewise race cars. More so even....A shoe that works so well for the reunner you don't know it's there. e.g. Nike Streakfly..